John McCain: President Obama 'directly responsible' for Orlando massacre

Sen. John McCain, criticized President Barack Obama Thursday, saying he was "directly responsible" for the attack on an Orlando gay nightclub that left 49 clubgoers dead and 53 more injured.

According to The Washington Post, the Arizona senator blamed the president for the rise of the Islamic State, saying, "when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama's failures."

The shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS before the attack, but intelligence officials have not yet found evidence he had any direct connection to the extremist terror group.

This is not the first time McCain has connected Obama to the rise of ISIS. Days before the November attacks on Paris he blamed the president's "failed policies" and lack of leadership for the group's "renewed influence."

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ORLANDO, USA - JUNE 13: Pictures of one of the massacre victims left at a make shift memorial at Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, USA on June 13, 2016. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

ORLANDO, USA - JUNE 13: Pictures of one of the massacre victims left at a make shift memorial at Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, USA on June 13, 2016. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

People wave rainbow flags and hold portraits on the Place de la Comedie in Montpellier on June 13, 2016 as they pay homage to the victims of a shooting at a gay nighclub in Orlando. / AFP / SYLVAIN THOMAS (Photo credit should read SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Since he was a boy, Anthony Luis Laureano Disla loved to dance. Early Sunday morning, he was dancing and laughing with his friends at Pulse nightclub in Orlando when a gunman stormed and shot him. Laureano Disla was 25. His obituary is linked in our bio. #PulseShooting #OrlandoUnited #PrayForOrlando #OrlandoStrong

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon moved from Puerto Rico to Vero Beach, longtime friend Daniel Gmys-Casiano said, and was immediately promoted to manager at a shoe store. He was a protector, confidant and hero, Gmys-Casiano said. Wilson-Leon died in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. He was 37. His obituary is linked in our bio. #PulseShooting #OrlandoUnited #PrayForOrlando #OrlandoStrong

Enrique L. Rios left his home in New York to spend the weekend celebrating a friend's birthday in Orlando. He was killed in the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub Sunday. He was 25. His obituary is linked in our bio. #PulseShooting #OrlandoUnited #PrayForOrlando #OrlandoStrong

To Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, good living was all about looking, smelling and feeling his best, loved ones said. He and his longtime partner, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, were together at Pulse nightclub early Sunday, and both were among the victims who died in the shooting. Perez was 35. His obituary is linked in our bio. #PulseShooting #OrlandoUnited #PrayForOrlando #OrlandoStrong

According to CNN, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman blasted the remarks, saying, "Senator McCain's unhinged comments are just the latest proof that Senate Republicans are puppets of Donald Trump."

That is likely in reference to the presumptive GOP nominee's comments on Monday, when he appeared to imply that the president was connected to the attack. During an appearance on FOX News Trump said Obama, "doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands — it's one or the other, and either one is unacceptable."

While the outspoken businessman claimed that remark had been misunderstood, he later tweeted a story claiming the Obama administration 'supported' ISIS.